Endless Tunnel
by mocha.coca.latte
Summary: Follow Cammie, Bex, Liz, and Macey on their junior year. New people to meet, new challenges to face, new secrets to uncover. My version of Don't Judge a Girl by her Cover.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this... It belongs to Ally Carter. For future disclaimers, they will be on my profile.**

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Prologue (Technically Chapter One)**

"_What would be the odds of that?"_ His last words to me echoed in my head, as like everyday, when I was thinking and a dozen thoughts ran through endlessly. And they all had one thing in common. Zach.

I remember on the last day of winter break, the day before 2nd semester started.

Of course, if you're reading this, you probably have at least a level 4 clearance to know that Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women- is in fact, not really a boarding school for privileged snobby girls, and that, despite our gorgeous mansion and manicured grounds, we're spies.

I had walked into the CIA headquarters for a debriefing. The imprinted image of the CIA motto framed on a granite wall was so clear now. The motto I knew by heart: _And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free._ Two boys had come and walked out of my life in a span of one year. And this time, the truth **had** set me free.

And so it leads me to remember my sorta vow that I made myself, that no matter what the future brings with it, I would be smarter. Stronger. Ready.

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**A/N: Ok, I know its _really short_ but I just want to get the prologue out so I know what you guys think of this.  
Please review!! And I do have this policy on my profile. But because I'm nice, I will gladly paste the policy below. **

**Ok, well it's not exactly a policy, but for the stories I post, I won't be asking for reviews just so I can post new chapters. But if I feel like Im not getting enough reviews to continue, then I will put off the posting. If you think that's like forcing people to review, then let me clarify. I wanna hear what people think of my story first, especially since I'm new to , so I can make necessary changes/improvements to my story. **

**-Julie  
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	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer on profile...**

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**Chapter 2- Gallagher Girls Forever**

Gallagher girls forever. And when I said that, I meant it. Literally.

Because on the last day before summer break in my limo that would take me to the airport, which then on a place that would take me to my grandparents' house in Nebraska, where I would spend time descaling fish (not pretty!), Bex opened the door and plopped onto the seat next to me.

And she told me, "Wa ta shi wa totemo wuleshiyi desu!"

My mouth went slack, and though I was surprised, I could've sworn Bex just said she was really happy in Japanese. She must be REALLY happy, enough to speak in another language.

She switched to English and said, "I'm going to be spending summer with you!"

**~ * ~**

And when I said descaling fish, I meant it too. Literally.

"Oooh, this is exciting," Bex sat down on the ground next to me and grabbed a fish out of the bucket. I rolled my eyes.

"I do NOT see how you find any pleasure doing this." I scowled in disgust while I scraped the scales off my fish with a short knife. And gloved hands, of course.

Shrugging, Bex replied, "It's just _different_. Normally, people like Tina Walters and Kim Lee would be taking pictures of the Eiffel Tower and eating crêpes, croissants, escargots, and drinking limonade right now. But this is just different."

"Yeah, emphasis on the different," still not believing that someone like Bex, who growing up, wanted to kick James Bond's butt and assume his double-o ranking, could think THIS was exciting. "I can't believe you're with me on my embarrassing summer break."

"I can," she chimed. I glanced over at her and she smiled. I smiled back, and then rolled my eyes.

And again, I should say that I really meant "Gallagher girls forever" literally. No matter where we go, we are reminded that we're spies. And we that we can kick butt.

Because just then we heard rustling.

"Bex," I said, trying to be as calm as ever.

"I heard," she replied, making eye contact with me. 1, 2, 3 seconds my clock ticked. On cue we grabbed fish in both our hands and our scraping knives were in our pockets to use later on during the attack. (Normally I would actually prefer nail polish to fish, but that's nothing I can do about.)

Then swearing. I frowned. What kind of operative would be so sloppy as to let their victims hear you?

Apparently he messed up and thinking we were NORMAL girls, he stepped out the bushes and smiled at us. He wrinkled his nose, and stared at the fish in our hands. (I do have to admit, we looked silly.)

Finally, he spoke.

"Hi, girls. My name is Yassen Gregoravich and I'm sorry to interrupt your uh fish business but I got lost. Will you be as kind as to lead me to town?"

"Sorry, no thanks, Mr. _Yassen Gregoravich_," Bex said, mocking his accent and spitting his name out, her accent thick.

Trying to stay calm, "I'll give you another chance to answer me properly. If you're good and cooperate accordingly with me, then no harm will come to you," he said, as 2 burly men stumbled forward out of the bushes.

_As if!_ "Ooh, how _intimidating_." I said. We knew who Yassen was. He was a serial murderer, rapist, and kidnapper and is wanted in at least 5 countries. "What are you going to do to us if we don't _cooperate accordingly and be good?_" I mocked, daring and challenging him to try.

He motioned and the burly men sprang at us, attempting to get hold of us. _Again, as if!_ I didn't think; I didn't pause and neither did Bex. We went on auto control as we threw (fish), punched, and roundhouse kicked at our opponents. They were soon knocked out, unconscious. NEVER judge a person by their cover.

But just then from the corner of my eyes, I could see Yassen taking his gun out. Bex, of course saw too. We grabbed the men from the ground and shoved them right in from of our bodies just as we heard the gunshot. The bullet penetrated through my guard, spraying blood and tissue everywhere, as it hit the skull.

And we knew we weren't done. Though Yassen had incredible aim when shooting his gun, he couldn't fight. So Bex and I took out our knives and threw it at him while he was reloading the gun. The knives pierced him and he groaned, doubling over. He dropped the gun at our feet as he fell to the ground. I pressed the gun at his head, above his ear, and Bex put her foot on his back to keep him down.

We heard a car door open and saw my mom rushing to us, because my mom is the best spy I know. She took out handcuffs and soon Yassen was forced, under my gunpoint, to get into a CIA van.

Other CIA agents walked over to Bex and me and congratulated us. My mom smiled at us, proud.

"Gallagher girls, huh?" a man asked. My mom smiled and nodded, glowing. Then we were joined by Macey and Liz.

I couldn't believe my eyes. But then they rushed over to us and I could feel Liz squeezing hard. They congratulated us as well and we squealed, glad to be together again and glad to have gotten rid of Yassen.

But of course, the moment was soon gone. The smile faded from my face as I asked my mom, "What are you guys doing here? Why was Yassen here? How'd--" I was cutoff by my mom.

"Macey and Liz are going to be spending the rest of summer with you guys and as for Yassen, that is clearance level 9. However, I'm so proud of you guys. You handled things pretty well, except I hate to see them go to waste," my mom said, looking over at the fish that were scattered on the ground.

I shrugged and sighed. "Grandpa's still probably going to make us descale them either way."

"Well girls, I better get going. I'll call you later, Cam, bye!" I turned to Macey, Liz, and Bex. I sighed.

"Let's get to work."

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I felt accomplished. I felt that after this, there wouldn't be anymore butt kicking to do. But both Bex and I knew that this was just the beginning.

**~ * ~**

The day we were leaving for Gallagher, all nice and packed, my cell phone rang. Macey, Liz, and Bex were in my room, with me. I picked up the phone, knowing it was my mom.

"Hi mom," I said.

She sounded rushed. "Cam, will you put this on speaker please? I want the other girls to hear this as well." She paused, and then went on. "Today you won't be leaving for Gallagher. You won't be at Gallagher for this whole semester." _Gasp!_ We looked at each other, but of course, Macey was looking as undisturbed by the news as ever. "The limo will be here in about five minutes because you'll catch an earlier flight, due to the fact that your destination is farther away." She paused again, as if waiting for any of us to question her, but we were all too shocked to say anything. "This semester," she paused for effect, "you will be going to…

…_Blackthorne_."

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**A/N: REVIEW!!!  
and sorry about the cliffhanger.  
this was just to make up for the short prologue  
although this still seems short even though it was four pages on Word  
I'll update as soon as I have the third chapter written out, but mean while, REVIEW!**

**-Julie  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Now do you really think I would be writing this if I owned it?

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**Chapter 3- Something New**

I could've screamed, I could've panicked, I could've went into total freak out mode. But I didn't. I was too busy hyperventilating. (Almost hyperventilating, that is, because Bex, being the good friend that she is, threatened to punch me if I did.)

Anyway, for a spy like me to feel this way, it takes A LOT of trouble, trust me. My mom wouldn't send us out to Blackthorne like this, so suddenly. And a good spy knows that if you've seen your mom looked worried and scared at least a dozen times during one semester, when your mom, as headmistress of the school and as the best spy you've ever known, insists on "forging friendships" with _boys_, and when you've experienced Code Black for no reason, then something has got to be wrong. REALLY WRONG.

We got into the limo, which took us to the airport. We got on the plane (which was first class, by the way), blah blah blah. There wasn't anything interesting to take note of, and if I did, you guys would be dying of boredom. It was nice, though, because it gave me a lot of time to think, which is why I'll be doing something I never believed I'd do:

write my feelings.

I know I'm writing this report as practice, but real ones aren't supposed to included thoughts/feelings in them. So I guess this'll be a lot of fun, huh?

I couldn't help myself as thoughts of Zach filled my mind. _What am I going to say when I see him again? Better yet, what am I going to do? Do I like him? Does he like me? Or our we just being honeypotted? What about that kiss? How could I have let him kiss me?_ But then I remembered the conversation we had in the P&E barn, when I told him that he wasn't my boyfriend. The statement seemed perfectly normal, yet, to him, it was not. "Yeah. I noticed" was what he replied. At the time I couldn't figure it out, but I _think_ I just might be able to. As Macey, our boy expert, told me, he's the one that kept coming back to me. He was the one who volunteered me as his guide, who always tried to find me when I "disappeared", and the one who actually spied for information about me. How else could he have known about my non-existent cat named Suzie? My mind also kept thinking back to the ball. He dipped me and winked- but I wasn't sure if it was him or his cover. I think he likes me, but he's not my type! Not to mention that I'm not completely over Josh... _Why are boys this confusing?_ I wished they were easier to figure out. I sighed, wondering again what it would've been like if I had gone to a normal school and led a normal life.

Our plane took us to another airport, where we boarded a helicopter.

Back in reality, my mind went back to the more important matters at hand. I wanted to do something. But I couldn't. My mom and probably Solomon were on to something, but I would look like a total dork if I just burst into school right now and there was nothing wrong going on.

Anyway, back on the helicopter, we were joined by the rest of our junior class "gang", Tina Walters, Mick Morrison, Kim Lee, Anna Fetterman, Courtney Bauer, and Eva Alvarez, glad that I won't be accompanied by three of my best friends in an all boys school _for spies._For once, I had something interesting to say about my summer.

"Bex and I fought Yassen Gregoravich," I told them when they asked.

"You mean that Russian serial murderer, rapist, and kidnapper who is wanted in at least 5 countries?" Tina asked, excitedly. Bex nodded. The girls gave us round of congratulations and applause. There would've been further conversations if not for the fact that _Blackthorne Institute for Boys_ came into view. We looked down and the building (or more like mansion) looked a lot like Gallagher. It was probably exactly like Gallagher, inside and out, except for the fact that BOYS were swarming in there.

Tina, Eva, and Kim started squealing in excitement, but I, for once, felt nervous.

As our ride landed, we saw Dr. Steve. He was smiling, as usual, his reddish face was just like I remembered from last semester. He greeted us, saying something that was oh-so unpredictable.

"Excellent! Now girls, you have arrived for dinner and I'm happy to say that the boys will most likely be surprised." Of course, Zach would've found out, like we had. "Be as quiet as possible, and don't come in until I say, 'I would like to make an announcement', alright? Now follow me if you will." I missed having an adult by us, because Dr. Steve was there to guide the boys to Gallagher, but we had no one. I glanced over at Bex. She seemed pretty happy. I mean, who wouldn't want to be reunited with someone like Grant? I looked over at Liz, and she was giddy, knowing that she would see Jonas. I rolled my eyes. I looked over at Macey, who just looked plain B-O-R-E-D. And I scanned over everyone else, who were just plain excited to see boys. I shuddered as I thought about the state of our sisterhood that it would be in soon. We walked into the mansion, and I was right. It was built exactly like Gallagher. Near the entrance, I saw a plaque that honored someone named "Harrison Blackthorne". I realized this was the founder of the school, and was surprised as I read on, learning that Harrison was a cousin of Gillian. _I'll probably be able to maneuver around this school perfectly fine._

Just then, I heard a faint, "I would like to make an announcement..." from Dr. Steve. I looked away from the plaque and I smoothed over my expression so that I would be able to control my laughter from seeing the shocked expressions of a roomful of boys. Mick did the honors of pushing open the door standing between us and the dining room...

For the next few seconds, I watched as the same thing probably happened to us when the boys came in. Forks dropped, one had their orange juice halfway to their mouth, heads were turned, and I felt a whole bunch of eyes on us, but I could tell most of them were on Macey. I made the mistake of scanning the room, because my eyes locked dead on with Zach's. He was smirking, and I could tell he wasn't surprised. He winked at me and a faint smile played onto my lips, but I kept my composure.

I was surprised to see a few of guys staring at me, because I knew I looked nothing like my mom and that the pores that were raging war with my forehead would take FOREVER to clear away. I shifted my weight to one leg and started soaking everything in. From the corner of my eyes I could tell Zach was a little disappointed I wasn't paying any attention to him and ironically, I heard a few boys say that they wouldn't mind getting bonded with- me. _How? I don't normally attract this much boy-attention, do I? They should be paying attention to somebody else!_I didn't say Bex or Macey because the majority of the boys were already staring at them. Anyway, Dr. Steve asked us to introduce ourselves- as in where we came from. Bex nudged me forward, and seeing that I had no choice, explained.

"I'm Cammie Morgan," I heard whispers here, "and we're the junior class of Gallagher Academy of Exceptional Young Women." One of the teachers came to us and escorted us to our rooms.

Morning came and we dressed in our uniforms, barely making it downstairs on time for breakfast because of the early morning grooming rituals. We sat down at our own separate tables, especially since most of the younger boys practically DROOLED around Macey. I absentmindedly stared into my spoon, where I saw that Zach was studying me. I felt uncomfortable under his gaze, now that I had a hunch he liked me. After breakfast, I wandered into an empty hallway, alone (Note to self: NEVER be left alone in a school full of boys. You don't know what could happen.) I suddenly felt Zach's presence behind me.

"Hi, Gallagher Girl. Missed me?" he said, smirking.

"Of course not," I retorted.

"Sure, I believe you," he replied, flashing me a I-know-something-you-don't smile. It doesn't take a spy to know that that was sarcasm. I rolled my eyes.

"Look, Zach, I'm getting kind of tired you and your secretive manner. I don't know what you want with me, whether if its being my friend or whatever, but all this mysteriousness is not going to get you anywhere. Don't even say-"

"MY mysteriousness? You know me better than I know you."

"If that's the case than how do you know about my non-existent cat named Suzie?"

"Still not satisfied, huh?" I was slightly annoyed with this boy right now.

"How can I be satisfied when you always-" but I couldn't finish. Suddenly, I'm pushed against the wall and his lips crash down unto mine. I was taken back, and it took me a while to register what was happening. By then I broke away from him, not sure what to do, breathless. His eyes twinkled, apparently delighted. I unconsciously touched my lips, and with one last glance, I turned away from him on my heels and walked back to my friends.

I walked back, and as much as I hated to admit, _Zach: 1 point, me: 0._

If I had not been so dazed, I would've noticed someone watching in the shadows.

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**A/N:**  
Sorry for the long wait! I've been really busy and my computer has been... wacko.  
I'm really happy with all the hits and reviews I got, since I never really expected it to be so popular. Yay!  
I just wanted Zammie-fluff fans to know that they might be disappointed because I want to portray all the characters as they are and not change them so that I can put a bunch of mushy cheesy corny stuff. (no offense!)  
Yes, this story is going quickly, because I'm trying to avoid as many filler chapters and cliff hangers as possible. Yassen was from Alex Rider... Things will start making a little more sense as the story progresses.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4- Trouble Knocks on the Door

**Disclaimer: As much as you wish I don't have to add this disclaimer, I do too. But if I don't, some people will come rattling about how I NEED to put a disclaimer here. But seriously, why would I be here writing this if I was Ally Carter?! Stupid people who make me put on disclaimers...  
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For the past week I've been ignoring Zach. Well, trying to, that is. Just _trying_ to ignore him is hard; he keeps on smiling his signature I-know-something-you-don't smile. (I totally hate it! He's way too mysterious all the time and he messes with my head too much.) Besides, how is it possible if he's my guide? Not even a _chameleon_ can hide from him.

Our group had walked into the class, everybody smiling with Macy and me dragging our feet and walking slightly behind the group, looking as if we dreaded the whole thing. Which we did. We had arrived in a harder version of our COW class (because we were now juniors) and boys, once again, were staring at us. _As if they didn't see us earlier... _We had to introduce ourselves, and of course I heard whispers after I introduced myself. I had no idea how the other side of the spy world knew about me, Cammie Morgan, CIA legacy. Ok, you got me at legacy. But they were boys; why would they care about me? However, I kind of had a feeling that Zach probably had something to do with this. If he did, I'd have to factor in "big ego" and "conceited" into my equation of why I don't like him. Or why I ever will. _Though that did sound naïve... Not that I'm suggesting that I'll like him later on. Never!_

You guessed it. Zach was smirking, looking cocky, or otherwise putting on his I-know-something-you-don't look from time to time. My solution? I don't pay attention to him. It obviously has some kind of an effect because he, for some reason, always looks disappointed. He probably slipped, since his facial expression changed just when I began to really see if he look disappointed or not. And of course, Dr. Steve was by our side, saying "Excellent!" like a machine that went off every 2 minutes. (That wasn't nice, but still...) It was finally my turn, and I was praying like crazy that my guide wouldn't be Zach. Nice to know, it wasn't. **NOT! **_This doesn't help his ego. _I simply didn't want to see the expression on his face, since it would make me feel worse.

It was after dinner, and I was walking absentmindedly back to my temporary room. I'm pretty sure I looked spaced out because at that moment, I was deep in thought. _Argh! I want to go back to Gallagher. I can't stand Zach. Blackthorne is so weird. Bex is flirting with Grant. Liz would look so cute with Jonas! What's up with Mr. Solomon and my mom? I wonder if Gallagher is having a Code Black right now. Why am I alone in this hallway?- _I was barely interrupted with my jumbled up thoughts as I saw, from the corner of my eyes, Zach looking mischievous and holding out his leg just as I passed by him. _Trying to trip me?_ I may have been spacey, but I was still a spy. I swept my leg low, hoping I would make Zach stumble and trip on my leg. He playfully jumped over it, and for the first time in days, he looked at me sincerely and with concern. (URGENT Note to self: NEVER END UP ALONE IN A HALLWAY!!!)

"What's wrong, Gallagher Girl?" he murmured.

"You. That's what's wrong," I mumbled without expression. I looked up at his eyes, which projected hurt. I almost felt like I should take it back. _Almost._

"Now, you can't hate me that much, can you?"

"How can I _**not**_?" I replied, and a rush of wet warmness rushed up to my eyes. I blinked several times, hoping to dispel the tears as I thought about the one thing I was afraid to think about all summer. _He played with my head, my feelings, for one whole semester. He kissed me and left me standing, not even caring to talk to me all summer!_ I hesitated, because that thought was un-spy-like. _I sound like a spoiled sissy._ Zach cocked his head, his eyebrows raised, studying my facial expression. But soon his gaze went beyond my eyes, and a shadow seemed to flash through his eyes, disappearing as fast as it had come. I refrained from asking about it.

Zach shrugged, saying, "You do the math, Gallagher Girl." _You do the math_. That sounded exactly like what he had told me last semester. And it sounded like he was seeing through me. What's up with him and seeing through me? I'm supposed to be _the_ chameleon, the one who no one ever notices. "You'll figure things out soon enough."

"Figure what out?" I asked in exasperation. "Besides, what do you know? What are you talking about?"

"Spy," he said, pointing to himself. I was pretty fed up with this act. I rolled my eyes. "I thought you were one too."

"I am," I replied, my voice in a I'm-stating-the-obvious tone.

"Or so you think," winking at me.

I shook my head, feeling my pony tail bob up and down and move around, "Stop messing with me Zach." _I'm seeing too many sides of him. Which is which? _"Ugh. I REALLY don't feel like talking to you anymore," I tiredly said, suddenly feeling very cranky. "End of conversation."

"Aw, come on, Gallagher Girl, learn to have fun!" _Fun? Psh-ah. _I rolled my eyes, _again._ Wait 'till I total up how many times I've rolled my eyes in front of him this week. You won't believe it. I didn't reply to this, since I decided to ignore him. I started walking away, "Ignoring me? Well two can play that game!" he cried after me. I got to my room, where Bex, Liz, and Macey were already there. I plopped down on my bed and closed my eyes, exhaling and inhaling huge, deep breathes. (Breathing helps a lot, you know.)

I heard Bex saying, "Spill!" and I reluctantly told them what had happened.

"Do you want me to translate it?" asked Macey, "Or do you want the boy language translator from Liz?"

"No, I'm fine. Just a bit crabby. You were right, he _**IS**_ messing with my head. God, can't that boy leave me alone?" Of course, I knew that that was a rhetorical question, the answer, without even having to ask, was a simple **no**_._

"Ya think?" Liz stated. (Because that was a rhetorical question as well.)

"He obviously likes you, Cammie," Bex said, and Liz and Macey chorused the same thing.

"Yeah, I figured out that much, but he's just- ugh! This is so complicated and its getting on my nerves," I bitterly said. I suddenly narrowed my eyes, a small speck catching my eye. It was small enough to almost go unnoticed. Emphasis on the "almost".

"What's wrong-" Bex started, but stopping herself only when she followed my glare to the speck.

"What is that?" Macey asked. "Wow, that sounded stupid," she later said, realizing.

"What do you think it is?" Liz murmured. Even though Liz isn't in Cove-Ops anymore, it doesn't take a super spy to know that that _speck_ was a bug.

"Some one's been bugging us," I paused, for effect, then adding, "and I don't even need to guess who it is." I walked over, taking the bug in my hands, whispering, "Did you have fun?" before I disabled it. This caused a frenzy among our group as we looked all over our room and each other for any more bugs.

"I don't see any more," Bex announced. We each agreed, finally settling down into bed. I lay there, waiting for my dreams to consume me.

_Dad? I looked around the dark room. I took note of every little detail, noticing its sleek, metallic-ness in the whole room. Steel tables, chairs... and bars? A pained and weak cry cut through the air, making me shiver. For the first time, I saw a slumped figure in a chair, another dark figure standing by him (or was it her?), hand held high, as if ready to harass whoever was sitting in that chair. Dad? It sounded a lot like my dad. A tingling feeling creeped up my spine, only to realized it was __**fear. **__Suddenly, dark figures sprang up from both sides of me. I could make out the silhouettes of tall, huge, burly men._

_"Well, well, who do we have here?" For a moment it reminded me of one of those good-guy-meets-bad-guy situations, but now was not a time for thoughts like that._

_I summoned my inner courage, saying, "If you're trying to sound scary, it's TOTALLY not working." A cold, cruel, lifeless laugh rang in my ears. The dark figure by the chair approached me, careful to keep his distance so that I couldn't see his face. (Which was good, because I had no intention of seeing it.) I tried sounding cocky, like the way Zach sounded. "Is your face completely messed up slash mutated or is there another reason why you don't want me seeing it?" But this person was, let's just say, updated._

_"No..." the deep voice boomed. "Even you held up a mirror in front of me it would not crack." The Mutated Face Person laughed, snorting. Um... wow. Just... uh... funny? I wasn't sure about what kind of plan I had in my mind at that moment but I reached for the pipe-slash-pole on the table that I had noticed earlier and I swung it around, hoping to jab away the burly men, and also using it like I was competing in the pole vault, as I used the momentum to jump over to the bound figure in the chair..._

_"We sure have a brave one right here," Mutated Face Person said, sounding slightly amused. "Makes a great show before you sink into perpetual darkness."_

_"You know you could've just said death," I offered, my voice a little shaky. Why now? Where did all this courage come from?_

_"You're actually starting to tick me off," Mutated Face Person mused. Apparently this guy had a bad temper. Seriously, I spoke three times. Only. Now that's really little compared what kind of insults I had in mind... "But that's good. Funner to fight with." Talk about grammar. It's called school, ever heard of that?_

_I glanced to my right. I had been slowly inching toward the figure in the chair. I saw his arm hanging limply to the side, tattooed numbers evident. Who were they, the Nazis? It read, "Schneier ICI". My eyes slowly inched up to his face-_

_I should've kept my eyes on Mutated Face Person, because I know realized that he was holding up a gun, pointing it directly at me. Time stood still for a moment and I watched in slow motion as his finger pulled the trigger..._

Someone was shaking me awake. I bolted up in my bed, my forehead coated with cold sweat. I quickly looked around. No dark room, no burly men, no figures slumped in chairs, no Mutated Face Person... Suddenly, the memory of the dream I had last night flooded back to me. I felt awful just thinking about it. Someone was shaking me again. I slowly became aware that someone was speaking to me.

"-mmie? Cammie?! Cameron Ann Morgan, wake up!!!" I heard Bex yell.

"Sorry," I mumbled, still unable to shake the awful feeling away from me. Not to mention that only my mom plays the full name card on me.

"Sorry?! You scared the heck out of us! Besides, it's time for breakfast. You better tell me what happened during P. & E. I'm holding you to that promise!" Bex told me, a little sternly, but mostly worried.

But I couldn't blame her. I got up and dressed, taking a shower, brushing my teeth, blah blah blah, doing my daily morning routine. I went downstairs for breakfast, **STILL** unable to exorcise the tingling, awful sensation away from me. I shivered, a face flashing in front of my eyes. Another tingling sensation ran up my spine as I tossed the thought back and forth in my mind. _It couldn't have been him, it couldn't have, it- _but I was sure. So sure, sure enough that I didn't want to admit it. The slumped figure bound to the chair was-

-_**my dad**_.

**~*~**

Don't ask me how I made it through the whole day. Don't. I could tell that the teachers, Dr. Steve, Bex, Liz, Macey, but especially _Zach_ was looking at me with concern. I felt bad, guilty, to cause so much worry, but I couldn't help it. I couldn't even think about it anymore because it knocked me mentally breathless. It left me shocked, **every single time**. I stammered and stuttered too, unable to speak or think coherently. I got to Language class, but this was a different kind of class. We studied the art of lying and being able to persuade someone and all that other good stuff. Despite my mental lock down, I was able to lie. Funny, huh?

We were practicing how to lie and to spot lies, like how we did in Solomon's class last semester, only this was more detailed and deep. Guess who my partner was? Zach was my guide, so of course he just HAD to be my partner.

"What's wrong with you today, Gallagher Girl?" he asked, looking concerned again. I sighed, thinking, _here's his other side again._ I focused my eyes on his, controlled my breathing and pulse as hard as I could. I took a moment to string my words together to make an understandable sentence.

"Nothing. I'm fine, just a few thoughts bothering me." Zach looked hard at me with his eyes, concentrating to see if my pupils were dilated, etc.

"Hm. Like what?" he finally asked.

He was probably still suspicious. "Now, what would be the fun of telling you?" I whispered, trying to curl my lips into some sort of semblance of a smile. Just like that, the topic was dismissed. _For now._

_

* * *

_**A/N:** Ok, so I don't get a lot of criticism, which is good and bad at the same time, but either way, I got at least two reviews telling me how the story was fast. I'll try not to make it seem so fast, but then again, I don't want to include TOO many details that might bore you. Bear with me people!! And know that I'm trying my best to update as much as possible and to make the chapters longer. So hard...  
You're welcome for me not leaving you with a real cliff hanger. I decided that I would make up for the short chaps and long updates.  
And if you see OOC-ness, please tell me. IMMEDIATELY!!!  
As a side note, I'm a judge for the Gallagher Awards contest and I'm a moderator for the Gallagher Mansion forum, just to let you know.  
By the way, just one or two more chapters until I can become a beta!  
Now, was that long enough? I tried my best, give me that much, especially since it took me less time to post this chapter!  
**REVIEWS ARE MUCH APPRECIATED!!!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5- Reuniting**

**Disclaimer: *sighs* You know the drill. This...does...not...belong...to...me... *says this monotonously*  
Oh, and it gets kinda bloody down there somewhere. Enjoy!**

* * *

I knew there was something seriously wrong with me. _Psychic? Supernatural? Telepathic?_ Normally, I would raise my eyebrows and probably say something around the lines of, "What planet are you from?" or "Are you on drugs? Because I know Michael Phelps just smoked marijuana." But this time, it was different. I had no idea if the dream was trying to tell me something. _Or maybe I just never went to sleep and instead hallucinated. _I tried shrugging it away. _It doesn't mean anything, right? For all I know, I'll soon be having dreams about how someone like Mutated Face Person would want to annihilate the entire world population and rule the universe or something psychopathic like that. _But somehow I knew this was not true. I can't be. I had a strange feeling, like I knew **for certain** that this was real and not imagined or dreamed or hallucinated, even though I did dream it.

It felt as if I had sunk into a depression or something. It was soon nighttime again, and I was worried about what dream I would have again. I decided to explore Blackthorne to keep me from sleeping, reminding me of how I was practically covered with dust and cobwebs in 7th grade, back at Gallagher. I found an empty tower that had a big, open window, moon light flooding through and making me feel a tint better. I sat down on the ledge and leaned my head back.

I was right. Sleep soon overcame me and I, once again, dreamed.

_Dad? I looked around the dark room. I noticed that this was the same room as before, but not quite. Steel tables, chairs and everything else was the same, but this time only two figures were in the room. Again, a pained and weak cry cut through the air. I wanted everything to stop, to freeze, I wanted to escape and curl into a ball. I would even live under a rock, so I wouldn't have to go through this again. I saw the familiar slumped figure in a chair, and the another dark figure standing by him, hand held high, ready to harass Dad. The tingling feeling creeped up and I suddenly felt very alone. It was the right feeling, because no one could help me now. So alone...  
_  
_The deep voice penetrated through the air, into my ears and through the mental barriers and walls I had tried to set up. "The brave little girl came again..." The figure who was speaking was the man who had immediately climbed up my hate list in just one night, one dream. I was just dreaming, right? Mutated Face Person boomed out a laugh, one that made me wince. I felt so fragile and weak right now..._

_I no longer had the courage I once had, and seeing this, Mutated Face said, "Ha! Is the little girl afraid? She's scared of the dark, isn't she?" he mocked in a girly voice. I clenched my teeth, not saying anything._

_"What? Are you too scared to approach me? It is because you know you're trash, that you're too weak. You're just a good for nothing--" He was baiting. And I knew that, so I decided I'd let him go on. "Humph. Well it seems like my plan isn't working." No duh, I thought, as I felt my courage resurface. "I'll just use another way," he said as he brought out a knife and lowered it down to my dad..._

_"No! I won't let you!" I ran over towards him, but it couldn't have been that easy. I realized this the moment I felt myself writhing in pain, holding my side. I had been shot... I struggled up, ignoring the blood that was flowing down, my legs feeling like lead. It was as if I was standing on ice and I couldn't stand straight. I tried grabbing the steel chair but electric shock coursed through me and brought me tumbling back down to the ground. Mutated Face was walking towards me now, his hand reaching out to grab me roughly by my neck. I felt him squeezing..._

_"Ha! I'll just squeeze you like a lemon, waiting for the tiny life of yours to seep out!" And make lemonade that you can drink? Now that totally doesn't make sense.  
_  
_"Don't... don't..." I heard my dad mutter, weakly. This gave me strength. I would fight for my dad._

_"I won't..." I kicked and twisted, trying to get his hold to waver. I struggled to speak with the lack of air, knowing my face was turning red. "let... you...win! You... S.O.B!!!" I yelled desperately, as black spots started appearing in my vision, making it hard for me to see._

_But my S.O.B comment obviously caught his attention. "S.O.B? What's that?" On that part, he definitely wasn't updated. He was still squeezing me, but a touch less hard and I took this opportunity to swing a pretty accurate kick near his stomach. Although I kind of suspect it was lower... He doubled over releasing me, and I gave him all I got._

_"You... know... what... S.O.B means?" I said with every assault. "You... son... of... a...!" I stopped there, only to have a knife stab me right in the thigh. I cried in shock and because of the sudden pain that registered itself in my brain. It throbbed both on my side and my thigh. My vision had become darker and darker, the black spots invading my sight until everything was black and calmness flooded my body._

I gasped awake, cold sweat coating me again. I had fallen asleep on the window ledge, realizing it was probably around 6 in the morning, judging by the color of the sky and where the sun was. A dozen thoughts ran through my head- _What does this dream mean? _and other questions of the same sort, but because I wasn't sure what to think I decided to go with my gut feeling.

_My dad, was still alive. And he needed to be rescued._

My back was to the window now. Tears cascaded down as I was overcome by sudden grief- grief I never knew I had or where it had come from. I think it's because of all the emotional strain over the years of being a spy-in-training and to live without my dad, without knowing where he was, or what had happened to him.

Then, I was quite disturbed when a pair of warm, strong arms wrapped themselves around my body. _Zach._ Normally, I would've tried to escape his hold, but I wasn't up for that right now. All I wanted to do was to rest. I was **exhausted.** He rested his chin on top of my head and stroked my hair.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" he asked quietly. Despite my tears and grief, I was able to to think, _Oh, here comes his soft and fluffy side again... _I shook my head to say no.

After a while, he whispered, "It's okay, Cam. It's okay."

He slipped back into the shadows again.

**~*~**

For the past few days, there were no more dreams. I was glad.

But excitement ceased to exist anymore. No adventure. No nothing. Whatsoever.

And, yeah, I had a problem with that.

I was very bored. MAJORLY bored. Macey was gone because her father was soon-to-be-President, Nathaniel Jacobs's running mate. Zach had gone back to ignoring me, classes went by as usual, and here I would go on about other stuff like food and what we talked about and what we did and what we learned and where we went and- you get the point. Not to mention how everybody was giving me way too much attention- thanks to Zach. However, one day in CoveOps class, we got a special treat from the teacher, Mr. Prichard. (Are all CoveOps teachers male?)

Mr. Prichard was no one I had ever come across. And frankly, he was _hilarious. _I remembered on my first day in his class, he was lecturing us on and on about talking. Just because we're girls doesn't mean we're not as good as the boys. "Man, that guy is sexist!" is what Bex tells me all the time. His hilarious-ness comes from his funny accent. Not British, not anything. Completely weird.

He had once asked us which one us were Catholics. A few people raised their hand and he started speaking in Latin. I raised an eyebrow. I mean, seriously, no one speaks in Latin in church anymore! Not since around the 1960s! Which is exactly why our teachers barely pressured us about learning Latin. Practically NO ONE uses it anymore.

Anyway, one day, he said, "Luhdies and geantlemuhn, please stope de jubbering of de jahws!" as we filed into the room. And we weren't even making a loud noise. The thing about Mr. Prichard is that he's going deaf in his right ear. (He tells us its because of his near death experience with a bomb that exploded a few feet away from him back when he was involved in WWII. A few of us aren't sure whether we should believe him or not.) We were right by his right ear, which had become so sensitive to sound over the years that if he hears anyone whispering anywhere on his right side, he will start lecturing them about "the uhbsence of silence" which really doesn't make any sense. He lead us outside, asking us what day it was today.

"January 20, 2009!" someone blurted. _Easy._

"No. Thaink cauhfully, students. Vut day is today?" I was just a tiny bit lost. _Today is January 20, 2009! Does he mean some kind of __**holiday**__?_

"Today is Nathaniel Jacobs's inauguration!" I suddenly exclaimed. Needless to say, I knew what we were doing today.

We were flying over D.C. I remembered the last time I had been here, and it spelled "defeat" just thinking about it. I don't think I really got a rematch with Zach, so let's just hope that Mr. Prichard has something good planned for us in the future. The pilot steered us into a different direction, and we got off in a clearing nearby. Our party went over to where the inauguration was taking place, staying to listen to the speeches and everything. But that wasn't the good part, because we, the fourteen of us, I couldn't believe, were headed for the Inaugural Ball.

Now, trust me when I say this was fast. Even me writing this is fast. Everything went by in a blur (though that was hardly possible for a spy like me) and I'm trying to write as much down before my head gets too full with all the details. We entered the White House a few minutes before Jacobs and McHenry did, to join all the other important people for the ball. Bex, Liz, and I had gotten reunited with Macey, who looked simply _stunning_- she knocked the breathe out of you just by looking at her- in her simple, formal gown. About 10 minutes and 23 seconds later, both boys and girls were dressed in tuxedos and dresses. I'm pretty sure my mom knew about this, because apparently, Macey did a SUPERB job picking everything out for us. According to Mace, she was wearing a backless Guy Laroche. Bex was wearing a strapless Marchesa, which she could TOTALLY pull off, as I remembered when I had to wear my strapless red dress. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Liz! She was wearing a Grecian-style dress, and she looked completely different! (in a good way) I was wearing Zac Posen's chiffon one shoulder gown and it was-- _sunny bright yellow. _Talk about a color statement! I was nervous, because, yeah, I HAD TO WEAR A STRAPLESS BRA AGAIN! Faux pas or fab, you decide. I had really hoped Macey didn't get out of hand with this, but of course she did. Can anyone say _designer dresses_? Much less _EXPENSIVE_? Oh well, as cliche as this sounds, _be grateful for what you have._

Our hair was done, and though it might have taken us only about 10 minutes to get ready, we looked GREAT. I felt like jumping up and down and squeal really loudly, but for Pete's sake, I didn't.

Our groups dispersed and I could feel Zach's eyes burning holes through the back of my head. I was wondering if his eyes were bugging out right now and felt slightly self-conscious. After a while, I couldn't resist it anymore and I whipped around suddenly to face Zach who was hot on my heels. He would've bumped into me, but instead, in a graceful movement, grabbed my waist and hand and twirled me around. I realized we were dancing now and he was wearing a smirk. I glared at him, because I wasn't very fond of dancing.

"You look..." I was wondering if he was going to say something like "not hideous", but he didn't. Instead, he paused for a moment and said, "... beautiful." My eyebrows raised in surprise. I didn't expect him to say that, especially because of what he had told me back at the ball last semester.

"Well, someone finally learned the concept of compliments," I teased.

"Let's just say that my vision was a little clouded back then," he replied, then smirking as I tried working out what he meant. Before I could say anything, he twirled me around again, and dipped me. Yes, yes, you heard it right! He pulled me back up, abruptly, and I found myself just about two inches away from Zach. (Measure it yourselves- two inches is **very close**.) _Whatever. It's not like I like him. _I saw from my peripherals that Bex was waving me over, motioning me that she wanted to talk to me. And just for fun, I decided to slip right under his hold and walk briskly away.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry sorry about not updating earlier. I basically wasn't that busy while I was writing this, after all, I had time to follow what was going on in the forums/communities. I had lost my RBRS (I'm not gonna bother telling you what it stands for), which is where I keep all my ideas/plans. I found it though, so yay for that!**

**My friends have been bugging me to get this done, so I did. I tried incorporating Kelsey Alice Rosalie Cullen's idea. Not sure how well I did on that, but... **

**One of my friends made an account; it's fairly new. I'm helping her work out all the kinks, so make sure to sub her as she will be posting her Gallagher story as soon as she writes at least 2 chapters! (because she's paranoid that way)**

**And one last thing. **_**MAKE SURE TO NOMINATE STORIES FOR THE GALLAGHER AWARDS!!! VOTING STARTS MARCH!!! CHECK OUT THE COMMUNITY FOR NOMINATED STORIES AND THE FORUM FOR THE LATEST UPDATES!!!**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6- Chicka Chicka... Then What Comes Next?**

**Disclaimer: on profile**

* * *

I was walking towards Bex, weaving through the dancing couples, taking the time to exchange a few polite and terse greetings with a few eminent politicians. I finally got to Bex, and along with Macey and Liz, we went up to a balcony (one where they allowed the visitors on) overlooking the entrance to the white house.

Bex was obviously excited because she gushed, "Down there? You see that guy, almost bald, plump, pudgy, fat guy? Apparently he's some kind of important guy in this really minor country-" I looked, and saw that the _guy_ was currently being forcefully ushered back into his limo "-I couldn't really hear what it was, but he's been blabbing to the guards about something, because he wasn't invited or something like that and-" she took a deep breath, "-he's-"

I snapped, cutting her off, before realizing with horror who he was. I didn't panic, though, because I couldn't risk doing so. "That's... from my..." I drifted off. Everyone was looking at me. Macey, of course, was looking at me with the _that-explains-a-lot _look. She looked at me expectantly, so to make up for my lapse, I quickly said, "Steven J. Levan, 16 year CIA veteran. Something fishy is DEFINITELY going on with him." They nodded at me in a business-like way and we hurried back to find Mr. Prichard.

Just then, at the same time, I heard a faint, "You'll pay for this!" (how cliche). We exchanged concerned glances and put on comms units and spread out through the crowd, in search of our classmates. I was the last to descend the stairs back down to the ball room, and right as I was about to turn the corner, I spoke. I most likely looked crazy, speaking to no one in particular, but that was not the case.

"Zach! Stop pretending you aren't there because I know you were eavesdropping. So get your sneaky nosy butt over here; I have something urgently important." Sure enough, a figure appeared out of the corner, looking disappointed, amused, alert, determined, and scared, all at the same time. The eyes tell it all.

"Here." I handed him a comms unit swiftly and together, we hurried, as fast as we could without looking abnormal, to find the others.

Before long, our whole group was there, knowing what we heard about on the balcony, but no matter where we looked we couldn't find Mr. Prichard. Neither did we have the chance to, because just then, an ear-splitting _BOOM_ deafened all the noises, causing debris and bits of the marble-great-ness of the White House crumble away, falling down unto our heads, all in just a millisecond. "Take cover!" I yelled. We put our arms over our heads to protect ourselves, and I did a quick 360. And all I saw was debris, people, panic, debris, panic.

"Ahhh!!!" I heard a very high scream, and Macey's mom's shaken, pale, and disheveled figure came running to Macey, stumbling over the wreck on the marble floor. "Your father and the president is gone!" she yelled hysterically. Macey's eyes widened.

"Mother," she told her, soothingly, trying to calm her hysterics, "you MUST come with us. You'll be out of danger." There was an urgency in her voice that probably made her mother agree without complaints. I caught her eye and nodded my head. I knew for certain what she wanted to do, but it was inevitable that we had to go to the CIA headquarters in Langley first.

A few minutes later, we had found our helicopter, with our pilot nowhere in sight. It was alarmingly weird and surprising, but we decided to board it. And right before we left, we dialed 911.

Macey's mom was currently shocked, too shocked to say anything. When you add up the fact that, one, the White House has been bombed, two, your husband and the president are gone, and three, she was among twelve teenage spies-in-training and two geniuses that were here on accident (because they take Organic Chemistry), well... You get the idea.

"According to my calculations, it is approximately 9.6 miles from the White House to Langley and will take about 15 minutes to get there," Liz said matter-of-factly. Don't look at me; I don't know how Liz does that.

"I hope we'll be fast enough," said a boy named Paul through the headphones I was making everyone wear, as he looked back down at the mess that was below us now. Smoke was rising from the building, burnt black ashes still visible, as the whole area was slowly becoming smaller and smaller as we increased altitude. I nodded solemnly, in agreement. I was so close to hyperventilating again, but this time, it was dead serious. I couldn't help but wish it was all a test, but that was ABSOLUTELY **im**possible. The scary thing was, _I was the pilot. _Yeah, call me crazy, but in no way was I about to act like wimp; besides, I didn't want to give Zach the chance to have something to be smug and make fun of me about. Especially since he was the only other person that offered to fly the helicopter. So naturally, he was my co-pilot. Oh, joy.

I focused my mind on keeping us in air, which I was glad about, because I wanted to avoid thinking about how I just saw Levan. Of all people, it was unfortunate and too much of a coincidence that I had to see him today, and that he had to appear in my dream. _Just great,_ I thought bitterly. Zach must have seen my sour facial expression, because he said, "You know him?"

I knew who which "him" he was talking about, but I wasn't going to tell anyone my dreams anytime soon. So I shrugged in response. _It's amazing how I can still seem so calm right now_. I looked at the aerial view below, and we were getting closer to Langley. However, the Headquarters seemed suspiciously blackened...

Just when things couldn't get any worse, it did. My mouth almost literally dropped down to the ground below us as I realized that the headquarters had been bombed too...

"Holy... (insert a curse word of your choice here)..." I almost yelled. I hoped it was inaudible to anyone but to the people around me, but I had headphones on. _Oops! _A couple of people winced, including Zach, at my choice of words because this was the FIRST EVER time they had ever heard me swear, in English. I hurriedly dropped altitude, making everyone scream at me, but this was a desperate time, people. "Hold on tight!" I exclaimed as I swooped down, just half a foot away from the ground. I landed and everyone just piled out and ran over to the wreckage. It appeared to be bombed a few minutes ago, as smoke was still rising and embers were still glowing.

I didn't know what I was thinking at that time. Like an instinct, reflex, I started rummaging through the wreck.

"Hello? Anyone here?" I yelled frantically as I looked for people. Soon, everyone else was doing the same thing, even Macey's mom. After a while, I came across a cabinet. I gasped, because it was one of those high-tech cabinets that withstood anything. There was one flaw in the design, and it was that the designer never thought about protection against bombs. _Fails when you need it. _And I knew these cabinets were not high-tech for nothing. They had top secret information, files on people, code names, and whatnot. I picked it up, and the latch popped open...

Just then a faint, weak voice called out from under the debris, making its way into my ear. It was muffled, but I could tell it was someone saying, "Help..."

I yelled out to a few students nearby and they helped me clear away the huge chunks of building pieces and we lifted out the injured figure. I quickly recognized it as the woman who bugged the Russian Embassy.

"Every one's gone..." she murmured weakly. She continued, "Cammie, " I was surprised she remembered my name, "tell your mother that..."

"Hang on, Marisse, the ambulance will come soon," I told her, trying to be as soothing as I could. Liz came up to me and put a supporting hand on my shoulder

"... tell her that... I'm sorry..." and her frail body fell lifeless in my arms. I felt agony. I felt as if my face would be set in the same expression of angst for the rest of my lifetime. I felt like _**I**_ just died. And most of all, I felt the same my mom felt, when she lost my dad. My classmates looked at me in concern.

For the rest of the time, we looked to make sure that indeed everyone was gone. And the saddest thing was, it was true. We salvaged through the ruins to see if there were any other things that should be saved. After all, they were government quality, government protected, and were government secrets. Things were lugged back unto the helicopter, only to realize that we, plus the salvaged things, would be too heavy. We found a helicopter somewhere inside the headquarters and Zach piloted it, along with 7 students and half the salvage and I got the other half of things and students.

"So, Gallagher Girl, what's next?" Zach asked, anxiously. It seems that it is assumed that I'm the leader. _Not that I mind, but..._

"_**I'm**_, well, _**we **_are going back to Gallagher. _**We **_have to go talk to my mom, after all, she is a CIA agent and our headmistress. _**You**_, can go back to Blackthorne if you want, it's your choice. But we are definitely going back home."

"We're going with you," he said, as other boys said, "What?!" He repeated what he said. "_We're going with the Gallagher girls_," he growled, this time with finality in his voice.

I shrugged, but inside, I was glad that we weren't splitting. It would be easier and safer to stay together. "Whatever fits you," I simply said, trying to keep my voice from shaking. _Stay calm, stay calm. No hyperventilating. No panicking._"You might want to let Dr. Steve know what's going on, but no one here has a phone, do they?" I suggested, and my gaze shifted over to Mrs. McHenry.

"Uh... I-I do," she stuttered, holding out her Blackberry. After a concise and succinct exchange of words, he hung up, dialed 911, and handed the phone back.

"Let's go," he said.

* * *

**A/N: A little shorter, but, I got it out fast!!!**

**Poll on profile regarding title switch!!! Make sure to vote! Not updating the next chapter 'till I get some votes!  
**

**Thanks to T3am Switzerland for the suggestion! It's a little different, though. Anyway, thank you!  
**

**You remember how I encouraged nominating fanfic for the Gallagher Awards? And how I urged you to review? Well, A LOT of you, like, the MAJORITY of you, DIDN'T DO SO!!! I can keep track of who's posting what on the forums and I can keep track of how many of you read my story. Today, as I'm writing this A/N, is February 11, 2009, 8:37 pm, Chicago time, and how many reviews do I see? 7. Out of let's see... 219 readers. How many nominated stories? As far as my Gmail inbox goes, NONE. Get it moving people!!!  
I'm not as concerned about reviews as I am about the Awards. (though still strongly encourage you to review "D) SO NOMINATE SOME STORIES!!! AND MAKE SURE TO VOTE IN MARCH!!!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7- Tell Me Something I Don't Know**

**A/N: I forgot to tell you guys something. ~~~~~ means a time lapse. and ~*~ means a complete scene change. Something like that.  
Disclaimer: on profile  
Enjoy!**

* * *

I. Felt. Like. Such. A. WIMP.

Here we were, camped out in this field in the middle of _nowhere_ (well, nowhere that I know of) and I was bawling my eyes out. Just great, isn't it? We had stopped for oil refills. After all, it wasn't like the helicopters ran on eternal fuel or anything of that sort. I was leaning against a tree, crying silently, again, as the aftershock of the bombings came to me. I inhaled a huge breathe. _Suck it in, Cam. _

I stood up, brushing myself off, walked over to where everyone else was, and announced, "I'm going into town for fuel."

"I'll come with you," Zach said, immediately. He wasn't exactly smirking, being cocky, or anything like that. He was just being his regular confusing self that makes a girl second guess whether he like actually liked her or not. (namely, me.) Before I could protest, Bex pushed me forward, Liz gave me an encouraging smile, Macey had a look that repeated, "It's okay to like him", and Tina looked at me a like she was just DYING to know what was going on between us.

We set off, towards the setting sun. I rolled my eyes, because sunsets were SO overrated. We had been flying for a few hours until the fuel started running out. I knew Gallagher was not that much farther away, but helicopters were faster than car rides and it was worth the fuel-hunting.

"So..." I tried starting small talk with Zach, dragging out the _o._

He was very to-the-point. "You know that cabinet you were holding earlier?"

"Which top secret cabinet? The black one?" He nodded. "What about it?" I asked, curious and a little suspicious.

"When you heard whatshername's-"

I interrupted him, "Marisse."

" -voice through the rubble, you set it down. One of the guys '_accidentally_'" he put air quotes around _accidentally_ "tripped on it, tipping it over. Some of the contents fell out and..." he stopped walking and paused. I raised an eyebrow. He took a deep breath. I crossed my arms. He shifted in place. I motioned for him to continue. He looked at me in the eyes.

"... I came across _**this**_." He held a manila folder out for me to see. It wasn't what I expected something top secret to look like. I knew it was stupid, but it didn't look like one of those folders that had "TOP SECRET" written on it in big, bold, capitalized letters in those stereotypical movies. It looked so normal looking I wasn't sure what to think. My voice caught in my throat, and I glanced at the folder, then at Zach, and back to the folder. After a while, I finally looked back up at Zach.

I couldn't believe I said it, but I did. "You don't mean to tell me you looked through it?! It's top secret, Zach! You-"

"Now, Gallagher Girl, who said I _looked through it_?" he questioned, with a hint of a mischievous grin playing on his lips. "The contents fell out, and I just happened to see it."

"Right..." I dragged the word, my tone dripping with sarcasm. "You _just HAPPENED _to come across this." I glared at him skeptically. He glared back, as if daring me to take it. I was tempted, and finally I caved. _He probably saw something, a mission maybe- _my heart raced at the thought of this- _and it had something to do with me. _"I'm not quite letting you off yet, but sure." I took the folder out of his hands, trying not to make them shake, but nevertheless brushing against him on accident. He cringed at the touch. _Great, now I can't even touch him. Not that I want to, or need to..._

And this is the part in the movies where the agent opens the folder and uncovers great secrets and there's a mushy/cheesy/peachy/corny part where the other agent (The Subject) promises not once to leave her side and that he will accompany her on her mission... I hope you like disappointment because I wasn't going to open the folder/read what was inside it anytime soon, so there. Besides, that would be too cliche.

I put a hand over my eyes to shade them from the low sun and squinting my eyes, I could see some buildings.

"Come on, we're almost there." I started jogging. Maybe I was trying to leave him behind, maybe not. Either way, it wasn't possible and knowing Zach, he would be right behind me the whole way.

"Got it!" I had been waiting for this answer for a few minutes, as I waited for a guy to finish refilling the fuel for the other helicopter. He, apparently, was pretty good with cars, mechanics, and all that other jazz, so we let him handle this. It probably would've taken us a couple minutes to figure out anyway.

"Let's go, guys! Just probably 40 to 50 minutes away 'till Gallagher!" I yelled over to a few people, guys in particular, who had crashed when we landed. Of course, us girls were all ready to go. (not to be sexist or anything.) "Right, Liz?" I asked, turning around to face her. Ask the genius here, people. (Jonas was busy trying to get an email across to my mom.)

"Uh-huh," she replied, and from her face I could tell that she was refraining from telling me the the exact answer. We boarded, getting ready for take off.

"Let's hit it," I called over to Zach.

"Whatever you say, Gallagher Girl." I could almost hear the smirk in that.

And we were off.

I was flying, steering us in the direction Liz was making me go. I gulped loudly, unable to think because I was too scared about what I had in mind. And at that moment, I had simply NO idea how much I was right.

My worst nightmare was coming true. Or better yet, my worst nightmare to the extreme times 10 was coming true. That's how bad it was. We were just about one or two miles away from Gallagher. The familiar mansion was right in front and below us.

"Zach?" I spoke through the headphones. It could transmit messages to another helicopter pilot. He was silent, but I knew he was listening. So I went on. "I'm warning you. I-I-" I paused. I couldn't keep my voice from cracking or shaking. Never before had I been so scared. I took a deep breathe.

"Calm down, Cammie," he tried reassuring me. _Here's his soft and fluffy side... _It was sweet, honestly, but it made me freak out even more. Zach wasn't stupid; heck, nobody in either Blackthorne or Gallagher were stupid. (can't say the same for other schools.) He knew what was going on. Have YOU caught on? Because Gallagher, was quiet. Abnormally quiet.

**~*~**

Being the leader that I am, I decided to go check up on the state of my sisterhood. Of my home. Of my mom. And hey! What do you know? Zach accompanied me. Surprise, wasn't it? (Note the sarcasm.) But this time Bex insisted on coming with me and I was grateful. No offense to him, but I didn't want to have spent nearly every time we had, to be with the mysterious and confusing testosterone-ridden guy. Who was cocky. Who smirked. Who always flashed me his I-know-something-you-don't smiles. Although it was pretty hard to convince Grant that the "British bombshell" would be okay and to literally lay his hands off her for once in a while. (Bex giggled when we said that.)

I went over to the gates, hoping to see some guards. For a few minutes, nobody came to greet us. I was wondering if somehow Bubblegum Guard was slacking off or something unusual, but possible, like that. We waited some more. Still, nobody. I even started waving my arms. We yelled for them to come. But nobody came. Something was wrong.

That's when I first realized that the windows were shut, dark. And the first thing that popped into my mind was: _Code Black._

And this was the cause of more swearing. (Only it was in Korean this time.) Adrenaline started coursing through me, making me jumpy and alert. I felt myself focus and the mission was clear in my head. _Someone had trespassed. _This time, it was NOT a test.

Somehow, a part of me went, _déjà vu. _But then the other part of me went, _Who was it? Someone Zach saw that day at Blackthorne. The reason why he disappeared the night of the ball- he saw the same person! Someone my mom also saw from the balcony..._

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**A/N: **I hope you enjoyed it! I know, it's short, but I didn't really feel like writing this past week. I got a feeling that Chapter 6 wasn't so great because not a lot of people reviewed it, so please review. And thank you times 7 for previously reviewing, I totally forgot to thank you guys! I can be pretty slow sometimes... So special thanks to my regular reviewers. You know who you are! Chapter 8 will probably come out faster.  
I worked kinda hard on it, because at first I sorta had a minor writer's block.  
Anyway, I just came back from my last ISI swim meet of the season. I was _this_ close to qualifying for regionals, but I didn't. So I'm done for the season. It's pretty sad. Scratch that, it _is_ sad.**  
**I put up this stupid poll, but I still want your opinions, so please go to my profile to vote!  
**AND- make sure you nominate stories for the Awards. Voting starts March! Check out the forum/community for more details! I don't wanna go to the point where I have to post an AN for anything, so please go do so!!!**

1.32 K readers- keep going guys!** Reviews are so heartwarming. And unless you want to continue me writer's block for chapter 8, please review! Just 3 more reviews so I hit 81. REVIEW!!! Not to mention vote on my poll!  
REVIEWS ARE MUCH APPRECIATED!!!  
**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8- Life Changing  
Disclaimer: on profile  
A/N: Sorry sorry sorry! Do not stab me with a virtual pitchfork yet! I've just been SO deep in homework, projects, and minor procrastination. Don't hate me! Enjoy!**

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My mind whirred on and on. It wouldn't be a surprised if you could actually hear the gears in my head turning, as the expression goes. So I kept thinking, hoping my mind wouldn't go overtime. _The same person Zach saw at Blackthorne... Is there a connection to my dream or to the file the CIA kept? What about Yassen from summer? He wasn't real, he was too poorly trained to be the real Yassen... What about the reason why mom sent a select few to Blackthorne? _Suddenly, these pieces made sense. Somewhat. It was all part of the bigger picture, and all I had to do was find the surrounding pieces.

I debated whether I wanted the element of surprise or whether I didn't want it to seize back control of Gallagher. Suddenly, something started vibrating on my back, near my neck. My first thoughts were, _Insect! _But insects don't vibrate, do they? (Well, some species do, but there is no way their ecosystem exists in Roseville, Virginia.) So then I thought, _Bug! _I reached up to the back of my collar to find a small tracker-slash-pager. I looked at the small screen. It read: **Mom paging. Beeping directions. **I looked up from the screen to realize I was facing in the direction of the warehouse. And on impulse, I headed in that direction.

I was separate from the rest of the group. I heard footsteps, found a reflective metal pole, and found out that Bex, Macey, and Liz were behind me. I slowed down my gait to wait for them to catch up.

"Cammie! You can't just disappear like that!" Liz exclaimed.

"Yes she can. Besides, you can't 'disappear'," Macey said slowly, her eyes wide.

"She's the chameleon." Bex rolled her eyes and the "Duh!" was apparent in her voice.

Liz flushed a little bit in frustration, which was a little hard to tell as the sun was setting and the sky was getting darker by the minute.

"So, Cammie, care to explain why you went running off without us?" questioned Macey. I simply throw her the pager thingy and she caught it. She raised an eyebrow at me. I nodded, biting my bottom lip sub-consciously. I felt like the situation I- _we _were in was the epitome of all disasters. This meeting with my mom would be the start of a whole epoch of trouble, missions, secrets, lies, and whatnot. I shuddered.

"Here comes nothing," Liz chimed.

**~.~.~.~**

We're safely in the warehouse now. I see Solomon, but not my mom, or any other of my teachers. No Mr. Mosckowitz, or Madame Dabney. No nobody, but Solomon. _Great._

My heart is pounding and it feels like it's right next to me. I can hear the loud thuds of my heartbeat, my whole body pulsing along and shaken with the steady rhythm. Adrenaline is flowing and feeds my nervousness. And I know that I'm sinking into something really big.

Solomon opens his mouth, but nothing comes out. He quickly snaps it shut and looks a little embarrassed for being speechless. Nothing a spy can't notice, right? So he simply hands us folders instead, but he doesn't hand me one and looks at me with a hopeful you-better-have-it-or-else look. I nod and take out my own manila folder I picked up from the CIA. Bex, Liz, and Macey look at me with a mix of "wtf?", "when we are along I swear you will SPILL", and confusion. Solomon nodded and looked a little relieved.

"I cannot stay long enough, ladies. I would advise you not to read your files here yet. I am aware that you will want to know what is happening, but now is not the time, or place, and you are not of clearance yet. Everything YOU need to know is in the folder; read it, memorize it, destroy it. I'm afraid our little reunion cannot last long, and for now you will have to hold your questions. Be careful on this mission, or forever hold your curiosity," he paused. It was quite lengthy for a mission send-off, but we were left with nothing to say. "By the way, Ms. McHenry, how many stacks of boxes did you pass on the way to this room?" Was now really the time?

"Twenty-five?" Macey replied (or more like questioned), after a pause, sounding unsure of herself.

"Getting better, Ms. McHenry. I expect no hesitations next time. And yes, Ms. Morgan, now IS the time. Get good, or get dead." And with that, he simply stalked out the room, walking out on us. Talk about dramatic endings. After a second, we poked our heads out the doorway. He was gone. We heard shuffling and crunching sounds of the gravel, dirt, rocks, and other bits of gritty material. Someone was coming, and it definitely wasn't Solomon.

Our mission, starts... NOW.

**~*~**

We managed to get out the warehouse safely. Our suspicious were confirmed: all spy units had been infiltrated... I'm trailing off, I'm trailing off... Because all spy units had been infiltrated, with the exception of-

-Blackthorne.

Ooh, juicily suspicious. We jogged our way back to the helicopter. Our job was done here at Gallagher. Wait, I see Zach.

"Cammie! Where the-" he paused, "were you?! You can't just go running off by yourself! You should've given us a heads up or something! What if-"

"Oi! Calm the bloody hell down, Zach. She's fine. We're fine. We went with her, happy? Now we just happened to have, calculate for me, Liz, how many people?" We all know that was Bex.

"Roughly three hundred three million, eight hundred twenty-four, six hundred forty people since July of 2008. Over three hundred million people's lives are resting in our hands," Liz rattled off.

"Now if you don't mind, does it look like we have time for a cup of tea and scones to discuss this over?" I asked.

"No, so being the thoughtful, caring, smart spy that you are, you will leave us along while we read our files and you will tell everyone else who are on this expedition with us temporarily to get inside the hellies and wait for us for approximately 13 minutes and 52 seconds," finished Macey. Zach raised his eyebrows at us and shot us his all-knowing glance. Thanks, Confucious. I looked over a Macey.

"'Hellies'?" I asked, giving her a weird look, as if to ask, 'Are you okay?'

"Hellies, helicopters, same thing," she swatted her hand to dismiss the subject.

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**A/N: Thanks for the reviews last chapter! My personal goal until chapter 9 would be 10 more reviews. (this is not a threat)  
This chapter is on the shorter side, but I promise I'll post chapter 9 ASAP, or as soon as I reach my personal goal (depends on how fast people review) or will probably be tomorrow night, or this weekend, and will feature the foursome's files.  
Shout out to Maximum Ride fans: I posted a story there called The Raindrops Soaking Me. Please R&R!  
Oh, and my other story, The Beginning, will continue. I'm currently trying to juggle a whole bunch of other story ideas, so I'm not sure when I'm going to be updating it. I'm working on it though, so I advise you to stash your virtual weapons for another time.  
It seems that ~~~~~~ doesn't show up in the story, so now ~.~.~.~ is time lapse.  
Voting will start soon!!!  
Not to mention reviews are MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH appreciated!**


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